Acclaimed Ceramic Artist to Speak at the University of Arkansas Department of Fine Arts

Photo Submitted

Kristen MorginPiano Forte, 2004Unfired clay, wood, wire, salt, cement, glue71 ½ x 46 x 97 in. Collection of the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. Purchase

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. –  The University of Arkansas Department of Art continues the Visiting Artist Lecture Series with Kristen L. Morgin at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 23, in Kimpel Hall room 102.

Kristen Morgin, whose work is formed with a mixture of clay, glue, cement and other media, comes from a ceramic background, but goes far beyond traditional uses of the medium. Her sculptures have an affinity to the assemblages of George Herms, Edward Keinholz, and Michael Mc Millen, but also evoke relics of contemporary culture that have been buried and unearthed at a later date. As Morgin states: "My works are delicate things that express the preciousness, nobility and stubborn-headedness of matter that resists its own inevitable demise in spite of its dilapidated condition and predestined downfall."

Born in 1968 in Brunswick, GA, Morgin earned a BA degree from California State University-Hayward and a MFA degree from Alfred University.  Morgin’s work has been featured in exhibitions such as Overthrown: Clay Without Limits, Denver Art Museum; 12th Istanbul Biennial; Huckleberry Finn, CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art, San Francisco; Unmonumental, The New Museum, New York; Thing, The UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; and Red Eye, Rubell Family Collection, Miami. Morgin currently lives and works in Gardena, CA. 

This event is free to current University of Arkansas Fayetteville students as supported by the Associated Student Government through the Office of Student Activities and funded by the Student Activities Fee. For questions, please contact the Associated Student Government at479/575-5205. Additional support is provided by Department of Art and the Joy Pratt Markham Fund.